A blog about tabletop hobby and or strategy games, with a side order of electronic turn based goodness here and there. Now with tons of retro gaming content both electronic and tabletop. Also with 20% more self loathing douchebaggery!

Monday, November 23, 2009

A Posting Cornucopia of.. STUFF

Why just.. STUFF? Cuz I have a long work week thanks to holiday schedules. And... I can actually use the money. Like really need it. So enjoy a selection of silly things, quick ruminations, and junk like that.

This is what gaming with me gets you:

CHEESECAKE! Holiday themed Cheesecake, covered up until game day with a plastic lid that still has that sticky glue crap on it. I haven't done anything one could really consider cooking in a LOOOONG time. Like 06 or so. Even this was mostly just a mix. But I mixed it.. WITH LOVE. (And not that kind of love. Sicko.) I tweaked the recipe a bit, adding in some Pumpkin Pie spice for that little something extra. And I dunno how it will be cold and all, but the batter on the blender blades was AWESOME. Seriously. I had the urge to just say "To hell with my diet, to hell with everyone! Imma eatin GOOD tonight baby!". Luckily sanity prevailed. But if its as good in actual chilled cake form as it was in "remaining batter on blender blades and mixing bowl", its gonna ROCK. I put it in an Oreo cookie pie crust, put some soft (ish) peppermint sticks on the top (which I had to break to make it not look odd. I want my decoration to be somewhat symmetrical!) that have a bit of the old PMint action seeping into the cake, and some Christmas Tree candies as extra sprinkled decoration for something that should be festive and tasty.

This is the kind of nice things people who game with me get. Because I am awesome. (Eventually someone will realize it, right?)

This next topic is just a picture I saw on whichever rendition of the Warhammer thread Something Awful is up to now:

"Tricks Brother Michael? That's something a Sororitas turns for money. What I do is enforce the Emperor's most holy will made manifest through time and space using me as but a humble vessel for his limitless might!"

The quote is from me. I see a Space Marine Segway and I can't help but think of Arrested Development. That show was awesome.

This is how I sell stuff on Ebay. Personalized descriptions, a fair price that isn't ripping myself or the consumer off, and I am showing I care. With this item I just sold, I think I have passed the 1K mark in things sold in the last few months. Of course much of what I have sold is nerdy things that are seriously wanted by other nerds that I myself do not want anymore, but at least its (for the most part, at least one Ebay seller has bought one of listings to obviously be resold at a higher amount!) going to a good place and I am making money and the purchaser is saving money over MSRP or other Ebay sellers.

I mean I have one of those Magic 15th Anniversary 2 player life counters. I have mine up currently for 30 with a Buy it Now of 50. The only other listings are from a seller who has them in his or her store for 100, 100, and 200 or so each depending on color.

I am selling my nerd stuff I don't want and taking up space to my brother and sister nerds and I hope it shows. I even put little personalized notes in most of my items.

Those Orks? They went in under 5 minutes, though it was to someone in an IRC Chatroom I have Ops in (#tinypewtermen in the irc.synirc.org channel. SA Goon Warhams talk. Or as some say: "Cpt Rufus' personal sperg arena". I talk a lot.) who wanted em so bad he is willing to pay shipping to Australia. So my Orks get to visit Kangaroos and Koalas! He has done a pretty good job converting AT 43 Type 3 infantry suits to Ork Killa Kanz so I expect him to do the same to my "counts as" ones!

Actually I had quite a bit of interest in the channel as I was asking for price advice and such on the Boyz. I just ended up going with something a little under what I paid for them. I think. I've been buying the Orks off and on since.. 99? 2 sets of Gorkamorka (1 of which was a free gift for a year's subscription to White Dwarf, back when you got something good for subscribing AND the magazine had useful game information instead of being a commercial you pay for.), a couple trades here and there, and the odd massively good deal on ebay. I am SOOO gonna miss those Night Goblins converted to Gretchin.

But the way I look at it, I need cash for other fun things I want. (And bills. OH GOD BILLS.) I am not using the stuff, so why not pass it on, and if I can make a few bucks doing so? ROCK ON.

And I had another epiphany at the disastrous 40K game last week where my World Eaters using the Blood Angels PDF codex were the Japanese Schoolgirl to the Eldar's Naughty Tentacle Demon. (And just what is it with those Tentacle Demons? You would think they would find a nice lady tentacle demon far more attractive than some icky human. Are they like the Furries of the Demon World? Shunned and mocked by being freaks who don't find their own species that attractive?)

See I mostly play 40K for the fun of it. Its not a particularly well designed game. Its not a particularly well balanced game. Its in no way, shape, or form a particularly CHEAP game. Or even moderately priced. I like to make odd and silly lists that do odd and silly things.

But because I had Orks, Eldar, Tau, World Eaters/Blood Angels, Chaos Marines, Tyranids, and Imperial Guard I was spending what 40K money I had on bits and pieces of each army, never really gaining any skill or competence with them, and not really having enough models to do various strategies and army builds. So I was totally Barding it all out. Jack of all trades, master of none. I keep forgetting what units do, and even forgetting rules while playing. Its too many armies for one game.

Sure my Imperial Guard are mostly just a dual duty with my AT 43 games so they kind of get a pass. But the others? My Eldar are so haphazard and unfocused they seem to have eternally sucked since 3rd edition. My Tau are boring and tedious to play. I find Orks funny but I seem to maybe play them once or twice a YEAR at best. I love my Nids because I love the Alien movies (even the god awful ones. Its like Jaws. Its got XENOMORPHS IN IT. I can't help myself!) and I have enough to be flexible. My Chaos army is so old now its massively flexible too. My World Eaters/BA can mostly be used with my Chaos for insanely large Apocalypse games.

Not to mention my Ork and Tau army builds can mostly be replicated in my other armies. So why even keep them? I can pay some bills or get some stuff I might actually USE, and get more enjoyment out of the armies I do want to keep. I mean I love my Eldar even though I can't seem to win a single game with them unless I play Stinky Kid. (I'll get to him in a later post.)

See one thing I have learned the last few years whilst stupidly draining my bank account (not always on goofy junk, sometimes its bills I never knew of or expected, or emergencies, or just not realizing all those little coffees and such really do put a hit on the ol' finances!) is that while I may HAVE more stuff, I spend LESS time with each purchase and I get far less enjoyment out of them.

You know those god awful videogames we all bought as kids? In some cases we still loved them and have fond memories of them. Because its all we had so by golly we were gonna beat em and get our money's worth! And we had time and reread favorite books and comics. And even replayed our games just out of the love of it.

We had less and appreciated more.

Its why I am cutting waaaay down on what I buy. I now ask myself if I REALLY want it. Do I need it now? What use will I get out of it? If I wait a while can I get it cheaper down the line?

And the latter is a BIG thing. Do I need to play that hot new videogame NOW, or can I wait a year or two and instead of spending 60, spend 20 instead? I mean, is a great game less great if I wait a year or two? I've got more games to play now than I will ever finish as is!

Something to think about.

Well, I probably won't get time to make another update till after the Thanksgiving weekend so have a great holiday if you celebrate it and your job doesn't force you to work it to amuse the sad horrible people who do not!